What an unusual December treat for 2024…spending a week in Paris, captivated by the decorations, bright lights, and historic architecture…and returning to Newport to enjoy, with houseguests, one of our town’s historic and significant architectural treasures, The Breakers. With a fresh eye, I’m focusing on how the decorations play up the many details within each room. Here are some of my favorite settings (with a note about one in particular which starred in the series, “The Gilded Age”).  I realize that there’s a fact about Christmas in the Gilded Age of which many are probably not aware…the Vanderbilts, and others in their “set,” were only in Newport in the summer. But fortunately for us, the Preservation Society of Newport County, the steward of this treasured American house museum, sees to it that The Breakers is dressed to the nines for us to enjoy.

The Great Hall of this 70 room mansion, built by Cornelius Vanderbilt ll in 1895. Of course, I must start with the live poinsettia tree. As a gardener, I marvel at the mechanics of this 15 foot presentation, which includes taking down each plant and watering it every morning.

Two other Christmas trees remind us of the occasion, and face the grand staircase with a “red carpet” that lives up to its name!

A globe of greenery and white poinsettias is a good example of the use of decoration to highlight the mansion’s grand details.

One of the hallmarks of The Breakers is that a fireplace exists in every room; here, through the Great Hall’s arches, this massive example is scaled to add another dimension…and complimented by a dramatic ceiling.

Facing east, overlooking the ocean, the romantic Morning Room inspires with its unusual soft blue marble fireplace that carries out the furnishing’s fabrics.

And if you haven’t already realized that The Breakers gives new meaning to glitter and gold, the Music Room will leave you aghast. No wonder that this setting, with its “More is More” aesthetic, was chosen for one of the most plot-moving scenes in the series, “The Gilded Age.” Do you remember the memorably grand ball at Mrs. Russell’s New York mansion, the evening that signaled her first triumph over Mrs. Astor?

In case you’d forgotten, a poster is presented on a shiny brass easel which shows the Music Room turned into a ballroom (it’s difficult to believe that this fully decorated room could also serve as a ballroom for waltzing).

Here again, another fireplace decorated to herald the Vanderbilt family’s financial and social pre-eminence in this period in history…extravagant Christmas ornaments even decorate the sconces on pillars to each side of the fireplace.

And lastly, the Dining Room, site of sixteen course dinners which set the scene for the ritual of corseted heiresses being married off to European aristocracy.

And we’ll close with St. Nicholas, almost lifesize, fronting the fireplace’s deep and high proportions who appears to have just descended The Breakers chimney. Smart Santa!

Wishing you a joy-filled Holiday season and a sleigh full of blessings.